Sal Velez Jr.

Photos with Sal Velez Jr.

Biography

Sal Velez Jr. was born on February 2, 1974 in Chicago, Illinois, USA as Salvador Velez Jr. to Vivian Hernandez, a school teacher and Salvador Velez, a U.S. Postman. A third generation Puerto Rican, Sal's parents divorced at an early age where Sal, his mother and sister Nina Velez relocated to Houston, Texas, soon Miami, Florida and then Sal returned back to Chicago's Humboldt Park at the age of 14 to reconnect with his father. Read more...His love for performing found him in many Chicago productions from The Goodman Theater to The Chicago Theatre Building, from Nuyorican Poet Miguel Pinero plays to the Life of Cesar Chavez musicals. After the loss of Sal's father in 2007, he made the decision to move on to Los Angeles in 2009 to fully pursue Film and TV.

Actor Sal Velez Jr. is known for the role of the evil Mexican cartel in Savages (2012), directed by Oliver Stone and the role of Garza in Boss (2011- ), directed by Gus Van Sant.

You can find Sal these days opposite Jon Voight in Showtime's Ray Donovan as Enrique or alongside Jon Seda from NBC's Chicago PD as the role of "Cowboy."

When not acting, you can find Sal working with homeless shelters for battered women, children and troubled youth. In his down time he enjoys training dogs for California dog rescues.

Sal Velez Jr. was selected to be the 2012 front cover of Nuevo Impact magazine, he made the cover on Chicago Extra Newspaper for Next Generation Puerto Rican Actors, and was also chosen to receive the 2013 Chrysalis Award by the San Jose Obrero Mission.